Sunday, May 20, 2007

I'm baaaaaack!

I'm home. My four days in Abbotsford were pretty busy, somewhat stressful and, generally, satisfying. We got my Dad settled into his new home; well, as settled as you can be when somewhere inside your mind you know you'll never leave this place alive. He does have Alzheimer's, but not so far advanced that he doesn't know what's going on to some degree. That was the stressful part. I got to see all of my grandchildren, including the newest addition to the family, Teagan. That was the satisfying part. Having all that family around, including siblings and extended family, was the busy part.

I did knit; the Beachcomber tunic is complete and almost sewn up. Only one underarm seam remains to be sewn up; then I'll block the sweater and take pictures of it. Until then, no pictures.

For something semi-mindless, I've done these...

The pattern is Dave's, fellow blogger whose blog can be found at Criminy Jickets. The pattern is in his side bar, in pdf format, or in the post I linked to. If you've never done entrelac before and would like to learn the basics of it, this is a great pattern to try. Just follow Dave's directions carefully, and you'll soon understand how entrelac works. And it's fun!

I don't often knit dishcloths, but now and then I like to make one or two and I don't use them in the kitchen; I prefer to use them as facecloths. Because they're 100% cotton, they're great to use on your face. They're soft and yet, they provide a gentle exfoliation. If you've never used the knitted dishcloths as facecloths, you should!

Aside from knitting these dishcloths, I also decided to give toe-up socks another go. I've made a pair before, for myself, but I really don't like how the heel feels when I first pull the socks on. Once I get used to the feel, honestly, it's fine; I'm just picky. The spring/summer issue of Interweave Knits has a most excellent tutorial (by Ann Budd... one of my favourites) on toe-up socks. I read through it and decided it looked easier to follow than any other book or tutorial I've tried to follow before, so I cast on (using Knitty's Magic Cast On).

Here's how it's looking so far...

Oh, did I mention that I'm also working them in Magic Loop? Yup, going all out here. One of the girls in my crochet class asked about knitting socks on a circular needle, so I told her I'd cast on a sock using ML. And then, brilliant me, I forgot it at home on the final day of the class. (What can I say... I got in at 9:00 the previous night, stayed up till midnight and was still pretty tired in the morning... the brain still wasn't fully engaged.)

The details... Regia Cotton Java Color, #1184, 41% superwash wool, 34% cotton, 25% polyamide, on a 2.0 mm (US 0) Addi Turbo circular, 40" I think. I like the yarn; I love the colours... we'll see how it goes when I reach the heel.

And that's it for today. The weather forecast calls for cooler, cloudy weather today but, at the moment, the sun is shining and it's gorgeous out. I'm going to go and enjoy it while it's here.

I was wondering if you've ever tried Queen Kahuna's Aloha Cast-On (http://www.queenkahuna-creations.com/crazytoesandheels_alohacaston.pdf). Since you cast on an inch worth of stitches and increase from there, the top seems rounder to me. I have wide feet so usually cast on 1.5" worth of stitches and find it works just fine.